50 Red Crossbill

• A group of Crossbills is called a; Crookedness / Wrap.
• This red bird visited our feeder, it is the size of a sparrow.  Has a very interesting beak like a grosbeak but it twists at the end.  This adaptation he uses to break open seeds and cones.
• There are 9 distinct variants of this bird referred to a call types.  Yes deferring songs along with beak size and twist.
• These birds breed year round based on seed (cone) availability.  They have 3 to 5 eggs.  The female is green to yellow where as the male is orange to red in color.
• The flight pattern is swift and bounding.  The wings pull right back to its sides.

•  Cool flight pattern!!!

49 Great Horned Owl

• A group of Great Horned Owls are called a; Bazaar / Glaring / Parliament / Stooping / Wisdom.
• Thanks to Connie Larsen for this good example of a northern subspecies.
• The Great Horned Owl follows Gloger's rule; Species closer to the equator are darker than those found in the north and Bergmann's rule; The colder the climate the larger the species.  So this plays out in distinguishing the subspecies.
• These owls are found in all the Americas. They are the largest in South and Central and second largest to the Snow Owl in the North.
• This owl is an adapt killer eating birds from the size of Kiglets to Blue Harrons.  They are also known to eat any of the other owls.  
• They have very powerful talons.  They eat all sorts of mammals up to the size of porcupines, marmots and skunks.  Some nests have seen up to 57 skunk sculls around them.  Yikes.
• They have binocular vision but their eyes are fixed so they have to turn their heads to see.  Turning up to 270 degrees.  Their right ear is slightly higher than their left so when turning their head they can pinpoint in on their prey.  How cool is that?
• They have already started nesting and the fledglings will stick with mom and dad right up till October.  The young can be heard calling for food.
• The Great Horned Owl has a very distinct call; ho ho hoo hoo hoo. Rarely they will have 4 syllables.  The female is the same but higher pitched.
• The females are somewhat larger then the males.
• Owls eyes are as large as humans.  I like a Glaring of Owls for a group of Great Horned Owls.

48 Red-Breasted Merganser

• A group of Merganser are called a; Brace / Flush /Paddling / Raft / Team.
• The Brace of Rec-Breasted Mergansers we saw were doing just that bracing themselves against the wind and cold by swimming with their heads tucked out of the wind.
• These birds in the north from Alaska to Newfoundland.  They winter on the coastal waters where there is fish.

 

 

47 Great Cormorant

• A group of Great cormorants are called a; Flight / Gulp / Rookery / Sunning / Swim.
• These birds winter along the east coastal waters.
• They are large and very good fishermen.  In Japan and China they have been trained to catch fish.  Kind of like fishing falconry. 
• These birds migrate out of North America in a V or strait line formation.
• These are colonial breeders in groups of 20,000.
• How more Canadian than seeing a Cormorant flying over a Tim Horton's???

•  Canadian search and rescue helicopter.

•  Yikes!

46 Red Necked Grebe

• A group of Grebe is called a; Water Dance.  How cool is that?
• They have lobed feet rather than webbed toes. 
• They breed in fresh water forested areas.  The nest is generally on reed mats in a marsh.  The parents don't stay with the eggs at night.  Safety? When the eggs hatch the Water Dance of young 4-6 split up half climb on mom's back half on dad's.  Each parent then feeds and cares for the young they now have.
• They are semi-colonial with up to 20 pairs in an area with separation of 160 feet between nests.
• They winter along both coasts.
• They are well known for their mating dance, kind of like two penguins doing a slow dance breast to breast.  Cool.
• They also have a hard time getting up off the water.  You will see them running with their short legs and small wings taxiing down the water runway.
• The winter color is a dull grey (bottom picture) compared to the vibrant red brown neck of the spring and summer.  One surfaced about 3 feet from us at the Digby NS docks.
• They eat a great deal of their own feathers and will even feed them to their young.  It is thought it helps in digestion.  Who knew?  Birds get "feather balls".

45 Long Tailed Duck

• A group of Long Tailed Ducks is called a; Brace / Flush / Paddling / Raft / Team.
• This was one of the hardest birds to photograph.  Every time you though you could get a shot bloop under the water it would go. Of all the ducks this small sea duck has the greatest ratio of below water to above.  It can swim to the depth of 200 feet.  That would blow out my lungs.  when it dives there is no giving an idea where it will return. This was a special shot.
• The Long Tailed duck used to be called the Oldsquaw in North America but with pressure to be politically correct is  now the Long Tailed Duck.
• This duck has the most complex molt with three very different plumage throughout the year.  This one was seen in Digby NS in January. I like to call it "The Master of Disguise".
• They breed along shoreline in the far north using down to line the nest and winter along the coastal regions of North America.
• This duck has a most interesting song; ow ow owal ow...  Yes it is a yodeling duck.  Who knew?
• This is one duck you will never see on the prairie.

44 Common Eider

• A group of Eider is called a; Brace / Flush / Paddling / Raft / Team.
• This small Team of Eider was seen off the dock at Digby Neck NS.  I say small because during breeding season their numbers on northern shores, above the tree line, can number 10,000 to 15,000 in a Team.
• They are very fast flyers and have been clocked at 70 mph.
• The eider is the largest duck in North America.
• Its name comes from the down pulled from its breast to line their nest. That nest is built close to the waters edge in the far north.  After the ducklings have left the nest the eiderdown is collected and used for clothing and blankets.  Much of this market is now been taken over by domestic farm geese.  It doesn't take long to gather enough eiderdown from 10,000 to 15,000 nests.
• This duck eats mussels and crabs removing the claws and swallowing whole.  The gizzard then grinds up the food and it can digest it.
• This colonial breeder is said to be fairly interbred because it returns to the same breeding area evey year and for many many generations. 
• The eastern Common Eider is different from the western seen by its dull yellow grey green bill compared to the west's yellow orange bill.
• Some Eiders stay year round in the Maritime Provinces.
• There is a group now numbering 1000 in england that in 676 AD was the first group of birds known to be officially protected.
• This was a great find and Vicki and I were at the right place at the right time to see them.

43 Common Merganser

• A group of Common Merganser are called a; Brace / Flush / Paddling / Raft / Team.
• This is an example of a female (Raft) in the summer in the Boreal Forest.  These birds nest in trees in old growth forest.
• The male leaves the female as soon as the eggs are hatched.  What!!!  The female takes up the young and caries them down to the water where they are safe from predators.  How cool is that?
• These birds are very adapt fishers.  They have a special serrated bill to grasp onto fish.  Gulls have been known to follow these fishermen and rob from them.  They have also been known as a Sawbill.
• In Europe they are also known as a Goosander.
• They are the largest of the 3 Mergansers.

 

42 Common Goldeneye

• A group of Common Goldeneyes are called a; Raft / Team.
• Unlike the Bufflehead the Goldeneye gathers in a large Raft of birds in the winter.
• It is distinguished differently from the Barrow's Goldeneye by the round white dot just above its black bill where the Barrow's has a Crescent shaped white spot.  The female Goldeneye has a brown head with a black bill with a yellow tip where as the Barrow's female is the same but has a all yellow bill.
• This colorful bird is also know as the Whistler because of the sound its rapidly beating wings make.
• Like the Bufflehead it also nests in trees but will nest in a burrow in the ground.
• Its territory is very similar to the Bufflehead and nests in the Boreal Forest.

41 Bufflehead

• A group of Buffleheaded ducks is called a; Brace / Flush / Paddling / Raft / Team.
• Very beautiful small sea duck, although its breeding ground is in the Boreal Forest. 
• Its numbers are on the increase. We hear so much about disappearing forest but the fact is the Boreal Forest in Canada and Alaska has grown 17% since the start of measuring treed areas by satellite.  Increasing wooded area for breeding has accounted for this increase.
• It nests in an abandoned Flicker hole or Pileated Woodpecker hole. They have a clutch of 9 eggs and stay in the nest until they are 50 to55 days of age.
• This is a very popular bird for bird watchers and is found on many coat of arms.
• They are monogamous and will return to the same breeding area year after year.
• They have many predictors from hawks and eagles to pine martin and weasels. 

40 Kumlien's Gull

• A group of Kumlien's Gulls is called a; Flotilla / Gullery / Scavenging / Squabble.
• The gull Melanie and I saw was a small all white gull with a dark bill.  Although this gull has one of the greatest variation in coloration there is non that has a pure white and small size of this bird.  Most of these gulls has a light grey coloration of the back ab back wings.
• It is a surface feeder on the ocean.  It does not feed on fresh water but will scavenge around humans.
• It is also known as the Laughing Gull because of its higher pitch call.

39 Taiga Merlin

• A group of Merlin is called a; Brace / Leash / Illusion.
• I would like to see an Illusion of Merlin. This very fast bird of pray also called a Pigeon Hawk because of the similarity in flight of the now extinct Passenger Pigeon, is fast, very fast.
• One of the main causes of death is crashing into things at high speed.
• This small falcon is a fiercely protective of its territory and nest.   It will fight off all comers including the Bald Eagle.  Interestingly though it is very friendly to humans.
• Outside Willow's house this flash of speed swooped in and grabbed a Yellow Bellied Flycatcher right in front of us and was gone with its victim before we knew what had just happened.  The next day he  was back, this time he grabbed a Starling but because of the Starlings size had to stab it repeatedly with its talons. This gave us a real good opportunity to identify it.
• There are several types of Merlin in North America; Tundra, Black, Prairie, Coastal Forest and the Taiga.  We were so excited having the opportunity to see this one twice.

38 Ringed Bill Gull

• A group of Ring Billed Gulls is called a; Flotilla / Screech / Savaging / Squabble.
• This is considered the most common gull and also known as the "Fast Food Gull".  Yes because of its eating habits.
• This gull has a very distinct Black ring around the tip of its bill. It also has very distinct black wing tips with a touch of white place on those tips.  These bird were sought after their plumage for hats,clothing and writing quills.  Who knew?
• I love watching this Squabble glide on the thermals.

37 American Black Duck

• A group of American Black Ducks is called a; Brace / Flush / Paddling / Raft / Team.
• This Paddling of American Black ducks has two males and two females in its group.  The way to distinguish the males from the females is the coloring of the legs and bills.  Notice the dull green color of the female bills compared to the yellow of the males.
• The American black Duck has been known to interbreed with the Mallard. Some say they are the same species, but this is not true for the female follows Haldane's rule where most females die before they reach maturity.  There are a lot of color variation in the males because of the interbreeding.  Seen on the blue wing bands and neck coloration.
• When they settle in a marsh for winter they will not leave this area even if the marsh freezes and the birds starve.  In spring when they have their 9 average Brace if the mother dies another mom will adopt the Flush adding it to her own even if they are not the same age.
• The American Black Duck used to be called the Dusky Duck. I kind of like this name.

36 Evening Grosbeak

• A group of Evening Grosbeak are called a; Gross.
• We saw a Gross and this was the only male.  He stuck out like a sore thumb.  A great number of immature males and females found Willow's bird feeder.  The female Evening Grosbeak differ from the female Pine Grosbeak in the yellow coloring of the neck versus the olive coloring of the Pine.  Both very striking coloration.
• Surprisingly these birds eat a great deal of raw salt.  They can also eat up to 95 sunflower seeds in a five minute span.
• They are a large member of the Finch Family of birds.

35 Hen Harrier, Northern Harrier

• A group of Hens is called a; Swarm / Harassment.
• They have also been known a Marsh Hawk or Ringed Hawk.
• Their diet is 95% small mammals, they will eat ducks and other marsh birds by drowning them.
• The male has a dull gray coloration with a white underside.
• The eyes are more to the front like an owl this places the ears more frontal as well which they use to hear their prey.
• They one of the only hawks that are polygyny, meaning they have multiple mates, one male will have up to 5 female mates.  The immature male is similar in coloration as the female so seeing a mature male is rare.  
• They nest and lay their eggs on the ground.
• In Nova Scotia they are year round residents, in most of the rest of northern Canada and Alaska they Swarm south in a Harassment. 
• This bird of prey can be seen flying low to the ground listening for its prey.

Feb 2nd 2013

• Back from 2 weeks in Nova Scotia.  The weather  was quite variable.  Quite a bit of wind.  Range from -18 C to  16 C, snow to no snow.  We saw no sparrows while we were there, and no long legged or long beaked birds at the beach.
• In total added 22 new birds to our Big Year.
• The most notable was the Northern Cardinal and the Merlin who caught a bird on two occasions right in front of the house at the feeder.

34 Northern Cardinal

• A group of Northern Cardinals is Called a: College / Conclave / Deck / Radiance / Vatican.
• This fellow was feeding on Willow's and Lily's feeder outside the house.  
• The males are very showy but I like the coloration of the females.  The brighter the male the greater chance of mating.

•  These birds eat seeds and fruit.  They hop on the ground rather than walk.
• They won't be found in climates greater than a # 6. Meaning they wont be found on the prairie.
• I was very excited to find this bird during our trip to Nova Scotia.  Big thanks to Nanny and Willow. Nanny has been doing all the photos for the blog except the ones I have had to pull from the net.  Without her photos we would have a very difficult time identifying any bird. 

33 Northern Flicker 'Yellow Shafted'

• A group of Flickers is called a; Menorah / Guttering / Peterson.
• Northern Flickers eat mainly insects, they can catch some out of the air.  45% of their diet is ants. In the winter they will eat fruits and nuts and sunflowers.
• They are a beautiful bird.  They communicate by drumming on trees and in some cases metal chimneys.
• I have never seen a Guttering but rather individuals.  The bright yell of their wings and unique flight pattern draws your attention and the red band helps identify it.  
• Northern Flickers can be mistaken for the Yellow Shafted Flicker. To make matters worse they have been known to interbreed making hybrids.